Over 160 people on a GoAir flight from Delhi to Mumbai on Wednesday had a narrow escape when the aircraft suffered a bird-hit during takeoff at IGI Airport. One of the Airbus A-320's engines ingested the bird during takeoff roll, but instead of switching this engine off as per procedure, the pilots allegedly turned off the healthy one.

"The pilots soon realised their mistake and switched on the healthy engine. The aircraft reached an altitude of about 2,000 feet before it returned to land safely in Delhi. It was a dangerous situation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has grounded both pilots. Luckily, the other engine had not failed after the bird-hit and was still powering the plane even after the pilots reportedly switched off the 'healthy' engine, which had not suffered the bird-hit. Otherwise, it would have been bad," said a source.

A GoAir spokesman said: "GoAir flight G8 338 from New Delhi to Mumbai, carrying 155 passengers, suffered a bird-hit on Wednesday. Following standard operating procedure, the aircraft returned to Delhi as a precautionary measure at 11.28am. All passengers were transferred to another aircraft, which was airborne at 1.04pm. The matter is under investigation."

The airline did not comment on the allegedly wrong switching-off of the engine and grounding of the pilots._________________

Pratt & Whitney's (PW) snag-prone engines for the Airbus A-320 new engine option (Neo) continues to trouble both the airlines - IndiGo and GoAir - using this combination in India. While TOI had on July 11 reported that 9 of the 22 PW-powered A-320 Neos of IndiGo were grounded due to engine issues, now GoAir is also facing problem on this front.

GoAir has been sending mails to passengers about some flight cancellations as the engine trouble has meant slower than expected deliveries of the aircraft from Airbus. "The reason for the cancellation is the delay from Airbus on account of Pratt & Whitney powered engine delivery. We regret the inconvenience caused. These changes are due to issues beyond our control and our customer care team will call you ... for free rebooking or full refund," says a mail sent by GoAir to a passenger who had booked an Ahmedabad-Bengaluru flight for August, informing him about the flight being cancelled.

GoAir did not say how many A-320 Neos it was supposed to get till now as per original delivery schedule and how many it has actually got so far. The Wadia group airline has 5 A-320 Neos. One of these has been grounded for engine replacement, adding to the airline's troubles.

PW had recently told TOI that it "is actively working with customers in India and supporting them in their daily operations". P&W's A-320 Neo engines have been plagued with issues like slow engine startup times and erroneous engine software messages in the new engine.

With 430 A-320 Neo family planes on order, IndiGo is Airbus's biggest customer globally for this aircraft. GoAir has ordered 72 A-320 Neos with PW engines and is yet to decide the engine for an additional order of 72 Neos it confirmed last year.

This March, PW had asked the two LCCs to fly these planes at a lower altitude -- 30,000 feet instead of the higher levels of 36-37,000 feet. While the denser air of lower levels will mean putting less pressure on the engine, flying lower will also lead to increased fuel consumption for airlines. Less fuel burn was supposed to be the USP of the A-320 Neo, Earlier this year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had ordered immediate examination of PW on the A-320 Neos. _________________

Go Air would start flying overseas from October this year, its managing director Jehangir Wadia said.

“We have plans to start overseas operations from October this year”, Wadia told PTI on Monday. He said, initially, the airline would fly to destinations in Asia and review destinations within the region.

Go Air, which had ordered for 143 Airbus neo A320 aircraft to add to the existing 24-strong fleet, has received the delivery for only five aircraft so far.

“There are issues with the engine for which the deliveries are getting delayed”, Wadia said.

To a query whether the airline was keen to look at the divestment of Air India like its competitor Indigo, Wadia said “we have no interest”. He also denied any plans of an IPO, he said._________________

GoAir is launching its overseas operations with flights from Mumbai to Male in the Maldives as well as Phuket. The airline, owned by the Wadia Group, has been waiting for the delivery of its new generation Airbus 320 Neo planes before starting the overseas legs.

GoAir says it will start flights to Phuket in October. It’s the fifth largest airline in India and the GoAir flights will be the first direct Phuket to India flights available.

GoAir is launching its overseas operations with flights from Mumbai to Male in the Maldives as well as Phuket. The airline, owned by the Wadia Group, has been waiting for the delivery of its new generation Airbus 320 Neo planes before starting the overseas legs.

GoAir says it will start flights to Phuket in October. It’s the fifth largest airline in India and the GoAir flights will be the first direct Phuket to India flights available.

GoAir has seized a good opportunity unlike other airlines which just introduce flights to destinations already flown by other Indian carriers. For example Jet has a hub in BOM and they don't think outside the box much. MLE flight has O & D potential in both directions.

Phuket has me intrigued. Recently visited Phuket and did not see too many Indians there, but was told that it is low season for Indians and they visit more in April to June and then again in winter. Phuket has a large number of Indian restaurants, though.

Also the Thailand immigration at Phuket is slow and for Indians it will take even longer, there are 2 lines, one to get a visa on arrival (this is clogged generally by Chinese and Indians) and then the other one general immigration.

GoAir is launching its overseas operations with flights from Mumbai to Male in the Maldives as well as Phuket. The airline, owned by the Wadia Group, has been waiting for the delivery of its new generation Airbus 320 Neo planes before starting the overseas legs.

GoAir says it will start flights to Phuket in October. It’s the fifth largest airline in India and the GoAir flights will be the first direct Phuket to India flights available.

GoAir has seized a good opportunity unlike other airlines which just introduce flights to destinations already flown by other Indian carriers. For example Jet has a hub in BOM and they don't think outside the box much. MLE flight has O & D potential in both directions.

Phuket has me intrigued. Recently visited Phuket and did not see too many Indians there, but was told that it is low season for Indians and they visit more in April to June and then again in winter. Phuket has a large number of Indian restaurants, though.

Also the Thailand immigration at Phuket is slow and for Indians it will take even longer, there are 2 lines, one to get a visa on arrival (this is clogged generally by Chinese and Indians) and then the other one general immigration.

GoAir will shift its entire operations to terminal 2 (T2) of the Delhi airport from October 29 till expansion work at terminal 1 (T1) is complete, according to a statement. The carrier is the first one to agree to shifting operations to the revamped T2 while competitors — IndiGo and SpiceJet — are yet to agree to the airport operator’s proposal for partially shifting their flights to T2. T2 would be operational from October 29, a joint statement issued by airport operator DIAL and GoAir said.

“GoAir becomes the first airline to accept DIAL’s proposal and decided to shift its entire operations to Terminal 2 with effect from 0001 hours of October 29,” it added. The release said the shifting is a temporary move to ease the pressure of fast growing traffic at T1.

GoAir MD Jeh Wadia said the move to shift to T2 would help the airline expand and further improve connectivity to more destinations from the national capital. It would also help add more frequency to existing connections, he added. Wadia noted that it is moving to newly furbished T2 in order to support the government and DIAL’s plans to upgrade and expand the airport facilities as well as continuously improve the customer experience.

“We welcome GoAir in its new home terminal in T2. This will enable us to start the expansion works at T1 and carry it on seamlessly,” DIAL CEO I Prabhakara Rao said. All infrastructures at T2 are fully ready and DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd) is “planning to initiate the ORAT (Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer) procedures with effect from October 17, 2017, 12 days prior to the re-commencement date of T2”.

Under the master plan, T1’s annual passenger handling capacity is to be expanded from 20 million to 40 million with 22 aerobridges and other facilities. “The expansion process will encompass all major areas of the airport ie land side, terminal and air side and will be completed within four years,” the release said.

THE STALEMATE OVER T1D OPERATIONS IS YET UNRESOLVED SINCE THIS WOULD NOT COMPRISE THE 30% REDUCTION AS PLANNED

The Mumbai head quartered low cost carrier Go Air has come to the rescue again to end the stalemate between airlines and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) shifting its entire operations to Terminal 2 effective 29th October. The airline has taken a lead to end the stalemate amongst the Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) operating from T1D and the airport operator. This has resulted in the airline shifting its entire operations to T2 rather than the 30% which the airport operator had come up with. This first mover advantage will definitely go a long way in streamlining its operations while the other two carriers – Spicejet and IndiGo battle it out.

DIAL took a view to let the airlines decide on the shifting and when no solution was forthcoming started planning for a shift of 30% of operations by all airlines at T1D. A holistic solution could have been to look at the airport capacity as a whole – T1, T2 and T3 before deciding on who moves.
However, this plan could have been fraught with even more opposition from airlines. Air India and Jet Airways have a functional hub with a lot of transfer passengers and partial shift is not possible. Premium carrier Vistara has its major hub at Delhi with lounge which would have led to opposition from the airline. AirAsia India is the other airline which operates from T3 and shifting them to T2 would not have created space for another carrier at T3 nor eased the situation at T1, thus leaving DIAL with no option but to look for options amongst the carriers at T1D._________________www.networkthoughts.in

The two aircraft represent the delivery of initial five of a total of 14 A320neos placed on long-term lease with the airline as part of a Purchase and Leaseback transaction announced on November 20. The remaining nine aircraft will be delivered to GoAir through the end of 2019.

“By delivering two A320neos to GoAir, CDB Aviation successfully completed the initial installment of five A320neo deliveries to the airline planned for this year,” said CDB Aviation Chief Commercial Officer Patrick Hannigan. “We look forward to delivering the remaining nine aircraft over the next couple of years, while assisting GoAir with further optimizing their fleet through our long-term partnership.”

Twelve years after launch, low cost carrier GoAir is finally preparing to fly overseas. The Wadia Group airline has sought nod to start with Mumbai-Maldives route in February and "filed for preparedness" with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). .

"GoAir is doing route proving for Mumbai-Maldives (Male). While they have not indicated a firm date, GoAir has given first week of February as the tentative time for starting that flight," said a senior DGCA official.